Meek Mill’s Petition For Early Release On Bail Denied, Sent To Lower Court

Meek Mill is just a few weeks into his two to four-year prison sentence, and filed an emergency motion on Nov. 16 to be released early on bail. Meek’s request was denied by the Pennsylvania Superior Court on Tuesday (Nov. 28), due to the delayed response of Judge Brinkley — who sentenced the rapper — to the bail petition.

In a document obtained and published by Philadelphia radio station KYW Newsradio, Meek’s legal team filed the 147-page bail motion on Nov. 16 but has yet to receive a decision from Judge Brinkley. The court denied Meek’s legal team’s request and has sent the motion to a lower court.

In a statement to Billboard, Meek’s lawyer, Jordan Siev, responded to the decision by saying: “We’re pleased that the Superior Court took immediate action to direct the Court of Common Pleas to decide on the application for bail ‘without further delay.’ We remain hopeful that Mr. Williams will be promptly released on bail.”

The rapper is currently serving time for violating his probation, which stemmed from a 2008 drug and gun charge. Since his sentencing, Meek’s peers and the hip-hop community at large have come to his defense including JAY-Z, who addressed Meek’s prison stint at his recent 4:44 concert stop in Dallas earlier this month, as well as Rev. Al Sharpton, who paid the rapper a visit on Monday (Nov. 27).

“If you can do this to a successful artist like Meek Mill, you can do this to many around the country,” Sharpton told reporters outside of the Chester State Correctional Institute. “He is representative of far more than his stardom, he is a symbol of the abuse of the system that will violate you over nothing and end up ruining the potential and the ability to move forward in life.”